A Trip Back To Liverpool

Feb 10

This week had a rough start but it ended on a good note.I hit a really gloomy mood which I just couldn't fight off for a day or two. The rejection we faced this week didn't help either but the good news is the gloom eventually lifted and I was able to feel like myself again when the weekend came :) Huge blessing! Now that I look back on our week, there were so many wonderful things that happened that I've now forgotten the gloom I might have experienced:

 

We have been seeing Yi every day to help prepare him for baptism on the 20th. I am sure he is sick of seeing us everyday by now haha. He is doing really well and his faith and testimony has grown so much over the past couple of weeks. For the majority of the week we taught him the commandments. It always amazes me when investigators are willing to keep the commandments we teach them. It shows that they have so much faith.

 

This week Sister Merrill and I taught a former investigator found in our area book named Cheryl. She was found by Sister Missionaries over a year ago and they had taught her a lot. She got really busy and never had time to meet with them. We called at the beginning of January to see if she was still interested and she told us she was and for us to call back at the end of the month. So we did and we were able to schedule a time to see her. The information left about her on her teaching record mentioned that Cheryl wanted to make a connection with God and prayer has never been a big part of her life. With that in mind, we made the focus of our lesson on the Book of Mormon and prayer how she can make that connection with God though prayer and through the Book of Mormon''a man would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book'' ( Book of Mormon Intro). The Spirit was definitely there during the lesson and we could tell it was teaching Cheryl because it looked like things of the gospel were finally starting to click for her. I love being able to teach to investigators needs and watch them grow in the process. At the end of the lesson, we asked her to say the closing prayer, which she resisted for a bit. She didn't see the purpose of prayer if God knows everything.

 

That got me thinking.. ''Why do we pray if God knows and sees everything?'' The answer is quite simple: We are all sons and daughters of a Heavenly Father who know us individually and personally. We each have a unique and special relationship with Him. He knows us but we don't know Him since we have forgotten our life before we came to this earth. It will remain that way until we speak to Him in prayer. Through prayer we can grow and develop the relationship we already had with our Heavenly Father before we came to this world.

 

This week I went on exchange in Macclesfield-- a part of England that contains the countryside. It was so beautiful there! It was nice break from the hustle and bustle of a big city.  The trip to Macclesfield wasn't pretty in the sense that we took the bus to exchange and it turned out to be a near 2 hour bus ride.. oh boy! Lesson learned, lesson learned. At least I got to meet some really nice people while we were on the bus :) I really enjoyed being on exchange there. It is always nice to learn from different areas and the missionaries, members, and people that live there. I have definitely developed a 6th sense-- the ability to spot Chinese people everywhere. We were walking in the neighborhood where the Sisters live and I spotted a little girl in a window of a house and saw that she was Chinese. We quickly proceeded to tract the house. The Chinese mom was way nice! She told me she was Christian and she wanted to go to church on Sunday.Woot! I can't wait to follow up on that with the Macclesfield Sisters.  

 

This Sunday, Sister Merrill and I gave talks in sacrament meeting (I was doing so good at dodging that bullet until now! haha). I gave a talk on the Word of Wisdom. It was a wonderful opportunity and I gained an added sense of appreciation that Heavenly Father has given us divine revelation on how we can take care of the gift He has given us, our bodies, by living this law of health. We can also increase of ability for spiritual blessings as we live it.

 

Saturday was Ben's baptism ! Going back to Liverpool was the highlight of my week. Going to a former investigator's baptism is the closest you can get to a vacation as a missionary because there is so much joy with being able to go back to an old area that you love to see again the people you love. Sister Merrill and I both LOVE Liverpool and we had a good time reminiscing as we were there. After eating tea by the bus station I saw Linsa and her family, former investigators of mine. When the bus finally came, I sat next to this young man and had a really great lesson with him on the bus. He accepted a copy of the Book of Mormon and is sincere about reading it. Oh how I love bus contacting in Liverpool..! It felt good to be back and I felt at home. The baptism went well and Ben looked so happy. He is so pure at heart. He will be a great strength to the ward. Our time at the baptism was short because we had to leave to catch our train back to Manchester.

BUT we will be back again next week for another baptism. Luo Xing had his interview for baptism and he is ready to be baptized on the 15th! Crazy! Seriously one of the hugest miracles I've seen on my mission thus far. Sister Loh and I have both asked Luo Xing why he wants to be baptized all of the sudden and he has said he wanted to repent and it is for some other ''personal reasons'' he hasn't revealed yet. I suppose Heavenly Father has told him something he isn't comfortable sharing yet.

 

This week our Zone hit an all high of 64 member present lessons! I am pretty sure that is the highest its been in at least awhile all through out the mission. We are truly uniting our efforts with the members. Love it.

 

The end of another transfer has steadily crept back on us. This transfer has gone incredibly fast and I am not ready to leave the Manchester YSA or serving with Sister Merrill. Regardless, I will go where the Lord wants we and serve with who He wants me to serve with.  

 

Funny moment of the week:

As we were getting a lift back to our flat after church yesterday, we saw this black man in a spider-man colored suit. I thought it was funny and made the comment ''Wow! I didn't know spider-man was black!'' The YSA member driving us asked ''Why is he walking?'' Then I said ''it must be because it is the Sabbath.'' Yep. Spider-man lives here in Manchester, is black, and he keeps the Sabbath by not swinging on his web on Sunday. Hope that gave you all a good laugh.

 

The more I study the gospel and the Book of Mormon, the more I realize how beautiful it is. If we have faith in our Savior, we can overcome our weakness. We all have the opportunity to repent because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. When we repent, our guilt is washed away and it is replaced with peace and joy. We can follow the example of our Savior and be baptized and have a fresh start. We will receive the Gift of the Holy Ghost after we are baptized and we will have the right to his companionship as long as we remain worthy. We can endure to the end, but we don't have to do it alone. We can go to the temple and receive the power, knowledge, and protection that comes from keeping the covenants we can make it the temple. The gospel is simple. The gospel is true. Heavenly Father lives and loves us. Jesus Christ is the Son of God and our Savior. His truth has been restored in its fullness here on earth. I hope all of you will come to feel just how precious the gospel and its truths are as I have.

 

Love you all!

Sister Jordan

Happy Chinese New Year Everyone!

新年快乐！Happy Chinese New Year everyone! 

(^^Sister Merrill taught me how to type in Chinese. hehe)

Well, I need to start off with a little bit of bad news: the new building's opening week has been postponed... again.. The builders still have a few minor things to fix and there is no telling when it will be opened. The Bishop told us he won't be giving another opening date until he has the keys to the building in his hand. The date has been pushed back way too many times now and they don't want people to lose trust that it will open. Too bad we already told half the Uni population here that it was opening next week.. We are all being tested for our patience. Whenever the building opens, which I hope will be soon, I know it will open the doors for so many to learn about the gospel and it will be a great blessing to the work in this area. I will be praying a little harder that it will open.

A blessing of being here in Manchester as the building is being prepared to open is that all of the missionaries in the area are being trained on how to help others with their family history. They are planning on having family history activities the week of open house and the family history center will continue to help those seeking to do family history. There has been a growing emphasis on family history in the YSA ward as well. If the work is hastening on the earth, it also needs to hasten on the other side of the veil as well. I have always wanted to do family history but I have gotten frustrated with not knowing how to do it or where to start. The Lord has blessed me with the opportunity to learn how. I can definitely feel my ''heart turning to my fathers''. (Dear family, please help me out! I would love to take family names to the temple while I am on my mission) :)

Yi is doing great and progressing well. We will be seeing him everyday this next week to prepare him to be baptized on the February 20th. One of the things we love about Yi is that he always asks the best questions during our lessons. He is just so eager to learn!

Speaking of eager to learn, we have an investigator,Stephanie, that was a referral from another set of Sisters. Her grandmother is a member and she has met with missionaries for awhile now. This time with us is a little bit different because now she really wants to learn and know everything about the gospel. She has the sincere desire to become more like her Savior too. I can't wait to see how she will progress. 

Last P-day, Sister Merrill, Sister Pew, and I went shopping with the Elders'(dated for baptism) investigator to help her choose a more modest wardrobe and boy, is she a shopper! I've never seen someone zoom across a store so quickly. And I thought I was a shopper.. I told myself before accompanying her to the stores that I wasn't going to buy any clothes. My will power worked! haha.

I got to talk to Sister Loh this past week over the phone and she told me one of the hugest miracles in the workings-- Remember Luo Xing? Our investigator in Liverpool that we had to drop because after meeting with him for a month or so and reading D&C 20:37 about the qualifications on baptism he told us he didn't have the desire to be baptized? Well turns out he has had a change of heart and has the desire to be baptized now. Yeah.. I just about cried tears of joy when I heard this news. Sister Loh and her new companion are teaching him everything all over again to prepare him to be baptized. I hope he is really ready though. There are more qualifications than just having a desire.. 

While bus contacting this week I met his man from Italy and as I listened to him, he ended up telling me his whole life story and told me about a spiritual experience he had 4 or 5 years ago. He told me about sequential experiences after that that he felt were divine intervention. He saw me talking to him as another one. Definitely someone prepared! We were on our way to meet an investigator for an appointment but I was determined to get his information before I got off the bus so we ended up taking the bus way further than we planned. The good news is we caught a bus back in the right direction and still met our investigator in time.

Speaking of bus contacting, a young man I shared quite a bit about the restoration with on the bus my first week here came to church, was passed to the Zone Leaders, and is now dated for baptism for this month. Woah. Bus contacting has become a strength of mine. I, course, owe this strength to the Lord. I was nervous coming here the Manchester and to bus contact because of the many instances I was told where the people weren't the friendliest here on buses. As I have continued to talk with people on the bus I have meet some pretty incredible people. 

I am grateful that I get to represent my Savior, Jesus Christ, here in England. The gospel is true. The Lord has a plan for all of us. Remember that faith is incomplete if we choose not to act. The gospel is full of blessings that can be ours if we accept and apply the teachings of Christ in our lives. I love my Heavenly Father and my Savior Jesus Christ. I feel their presence through the Spirit.

我爱你们!

Sister Jordan( 高姐妹)

The Truth Will Defend Itself

Ground breaking news:
Mormon.org is now legal and can be accessed in China. This is great progress!

Golden investigator alert:
We have this super golden investigator that had absolutely no Christian or religious background (not uncommon with Chinese) and didn't believe/ know if God existed the first time we met him. Before we even taught him, he came to church with us and that was the first time he had ever been to church in his whole life. Within the past 8 days, he has come to church twice, attended FHE, we have only taught him twice, and he also attended another activity. He told us in our last lesson with him that since he has been praying, he has come to know more and more that God is there. He also feels really warm when he prays too. The Spirit is does wonders! He is already wanting to know what he needs to do to be baptized. We are hoping to give him a baptismal date and be able to prepare him to be baptized the first week the new YSA building opens :)

This week we went street contacting with a member of the YSA and at times we would split off on our own so we could talk to as many people as we could on the street. I stopped this one girl that was from Mexico and she told me that she gave up on religion and doesn't believe anymore. I asked her if she wanted to learn more about the gospel of Jesus Christ but she kindly rejected. Before she continued to her destination she told me that talking to me made her happy and that I ''have a good energy.'' Woah.. I am sure all of us missionaries radiate the light of Christ and everyone we talk to can feel it.

We have been teaching this investigator named Bobby lately. Before he meet with us he told us he wanted to find the true church (perfect!) but all he has done since we have meet with us is pull out random scriptures from the Bible that he wants us to clarify. Turns out he is actually a missionary for another church here. Awkward.. He wants us to ''convince him'' that this church is true. Sorry, but that is not how it works. We have invited him again and again to read the Book of Mormon and pray about it and that through the Spirit, he will know this church is the only true church on the earth. In the first lesson teaching him I feel like I was trying to defend what I knew was true by wanted to show him all these scriptures that proved that what we were saying was true. Then I realized, however, that we could try convincing him all we want with our evidence but that wont get him anywhere.  Unless he does his part and reads the Book of Mormon and prays about it he can never know the truth. I am so grateful that we do not have to defend the truth through contentious persuasion but if sincere seekers of the truth want to know if what we share is true, all they have to do is read the Book of Mormon and ask God if it be true. The truth, through the Holy Ghost, will defend itself.  If he can overcome his concerns and receive a witness from the Spirit that the Book of Mormon is true, he will be such a solid member. Until he shows a little more commitment, we are not going to meet with him again.
Important side note: Bobby's mom is a member and he remembers going to church with her 20 so years ago when he was 6 and partaking of the sacrament. This memory is no coincidence but I know it is the Spirit trying to communicate with him and tell him to go to church and take the sacrament.

Another challenging investigator we have met with comes from a protestant background but he has a sincere desire to follow Jesus Christ. He had some questions about the priesthood and why we need it to be baptized and a member of the bishopric that came teaching with us was invaluable in resolving his concern. Note to all you reading this: Use the members! Or if you are a member, make yourself available to go teaching with the missionaries! I know now more than ever after this experience just how much we need the members when we teach.  Often times they have more experience than we do when it comes to resolving concerns. This investigator has to leave to go to the US for over a month to look at what schools he wants to go to get his PhD :(. The most amazing thing about this investigator is he has already set up a return appointment with us in March, time and location and everything. Talk about booking in advance.

We said goodbye to a member in the ward that is going back to the states since she could not renew her VISA.  She told Sister Merrill and I yesterday, her last Sunday, that she was glad she got to know us and that the both of us ''are just what the ward needs.'' It is always nice to hear from members themselves that they too can tell that we are needed in the area we are in at that specific time.

This gospel is true. I know that as we apply what we learn, we can overcome the challenges of life and become more like our Savior.

Love you all!
Sister Jordan

God Trusts You

Funny moment of the week:

Like I mentioned in my last email, sometimes we pick-up admirers throughout the week . Sister Merrill met this one young man on the bus and gave him a pass along card with our information. He called us one day and asked when he could see us. We told him he could come to FHE which is at the Senior couple's home. He said he works on Mondays but he asked for their post code anyway. I told him over the phone that we would send it to him but I hesitated to send it. Besides, we were leaving the flat to go street contacting. He called maybe 20 minutes later and the conversation went like this
 ''Why you no send me post code?'' (his English isn't the greatest).
''Oh I am so sorry! We were busy''
''Why?''

''Because there are people that want to learn about Jesus Christ and we were teaching them''

It may not sound that funny via email but his broken English and the sound of disappointment and concern in his voice made the situation funny.

The Lord is more than willing to give us blessings that we are very specific when we ask for them.
As we were walking to go street contacting one night, I started describing to Sister Merrill someone I wanted the Lord to place in my path. It was going to be a Chinese girl with a maroon coat, hair in a pony-tail, and most likely with glasses. I was determined to find someone that met this description. A couple minutes later, we spotted the girl I had pictured! We quickly approached her to talk to her. Her name is Sylvia and she is from Australia so her English is really good and I wasn't able to find out if she spoke Chinese or not. She told us her grandma is a Christian and she is happy when she goes to church but Sylvia herself doesn't find her self all that religious. I was just so shocked I was able to find the person I asked the Lord to put in my path I didn't really know what to say to her. She isn't interested in the gospel at the moment but I know the Lord is preparing her. There is no doubt that it was revelation that helped me picture her before I met her. Sister Merrill and I both felt as we talked to her that she is someone we needed to talk to that day.

So miracle in the process- Yan, my recent convert from Liverpool, found a job here in Manchester and will be able to extend her VISA! C Minor has to go back to China for a bit but he will be coming to Manchester soon as well. Woah. I pray that he will come back to England, continue to meet with missionaries, and feel ready for baptism this year.

There is a new YSA building located near Manchester University that will be opening next month. When Sister Merrill and I first got here we didn't have a specific date to tell people when it would be opening but we spread the news to the students and everyone in the area that it was due to be open soon. On Sunday they announced it will finally be opening in February and the first official sacrament being the 16th. This is huge news! The YSA building has been under  construction for 2 years and it was supposed to open last year. It will be the first building of its kind in Europe. We had our interviews with President Preston last week and he told Sister Merrill and I that missionaries would, I quote, ''cut off their right arm to be here'' at a time like this. We are going to fill that building when it opens:) so excited. 

Saturday was 4 hour consecrated finding through out the mission. A nice handful of the YSA and even the Bishop came finding with the missionaries. I love being able to work with the members.

Despite the students here being very busy with exams, we had 3  people that we invited come to church on Sunday! Woot! Pretty good for number for whitewashing and area.

This past week I went on exchange with one of the Sister Training Leaders here in my area. We had two appointments over the exchange that were quite the challenge. Both investigators had a TON of questions and concerns and frankly we did not have enough time or knowledge to answer them all. The great thing was we had YSA members at both lessons and with a team effort we were able to try to help these investigators find the answers that they wanted. At the end of the exchange I vented to my STL that lately in my mission I have felt like I always teach really difficult investigators with so many concerns that it feels like the lessons can get out of hand. She told me that maybe Heavenly Father wants me to grow from these experiences and that He trusts me to teach the children He has that have a lot of questions. Her insights brought me a lot of comfort. I guess it is true. God has blessed me with a great deal of patience and I am blessed to be able to use my talents to teach investigators like these. God truly does send us to where we need to be because of who we are and who we can become out of the experience. 

I am learning to face rejection and to keep moving on until we find those that are ready for the gospel. It is a process of weeding while we street contact. Sister Merrill and I have seen so many miracles so far as we have been on the street everyday talking with as many people as we can. Our investigator pool is growing and all of them have such great potential. We are starting to get busier which is nice because that means the majority of our days won't be finding  anymore.

 Remember that God knows us all perfectly and that our Savior, Jesus Christ, is able to strengthen us when we need it the most. I love being able to talk to my Heavenly Father in prayer at the end of each day and tell Him how I felt my day went and where I need His help. He hears and answers prayers.

I love you all!

Sister Jordan 

MAnchester YSA: Building Up For The Work

First things first, I LOVE being here in Manchester. The YSA ward is great. My district is great. My COMPANION is great. We live below the senior couples here and they are more than willing to drive us places if we need it and to feed us as well. Score!

It is hard to remember what happened this week because everything just kind of blurred together. Since we whitewashed in and we weren't left any progressing investigators there is one thing for sure that we did do everyday: FINDING. Lots and lots of street contacting. I am going to be such a pro at street contacting after this transfer. There is a road here in Manchester famous in the mission for street contacting- Oxford road. Sister Merrill and I spend so much time on that street and we have meet so many Chinese so far. The road is about a couple miles long and there are a few universities that stem off of it so there are a lot of people that walk up and down it everyday. I've never talked to so many different Chinese people in one day! Exams our this week so just about every single student we stopped was in a hurry so we are hoping that when exams are over that they will have more time to stop and talk with us. I re-visited my call letter not to long ago and one of the inspired lines in it is the promise that if I serve with all my heart, might, mind, and strength, the Lord will lead us to those that have been prepared to be baptized. I have faith that that promise will come true for Sister Merrill and I. We are both willing to work really hard and sacrifice much in building the work here.  We know we will face a lot of rejection in the process (already have) but those that will listen are sure to be the ones that are willing to follow the example of our Savior and be baptized. We are here to build up the work with the Chinese YSA.

There is a new chapel that is set to open next month and it is located off Oxford road. We are preparing the ward and the area for it to open. We have invited everyone we talk to to come to the church when it opens. Our goal is to fill the building when it opens. There is bound to be an explosion of the work as this building opens. The YSA ward is so great. The bishopric is  encouraging the YSA to help the missionaries in every phase of the work. This Saturday is consecrated finding and we already have plans for the members to come finding with us. Exciting!

We have already seen many miracles while street contacting. There is this one girl that we met and her name in Chinese translates to Miracle in English. She was already contacted by one of the Sisters that was in our area before us and she was put in the path of missionaries again. She wants to become a Christian. Gold. Like her name says, she is a miracle!

Ok. Time for the funny moments of the week:
So we all know how cute Sister Merrill is. (So cute that sometimes she attracts the wrong type of attention). We had taken a bus to go a bit further down from Oxford road to street contact and not to long after we got off the bus and started walking,  this van passed by and honked their horn at us. Our eyes quickly darted to the van to see these creepy men giving us kissy faces. Oh boy. We had a good laugh about that.

Sister Merrill and I had been speaking Chinese to each other on the bus and I looked to the back of the bus to see a shocked Chinese boy. The look on his face was priceless! I waved at him and he then asked from where he was sitting ''you both speak Chinese?!'' We talked to him and handed him a pass along card when we got of the bus and we invited him to church. Oh the miracles that happen when you SYL (speak your language).

I love you all and I hope you are all ready to hear of the great miracles that will happen while I serve in Manchester. I can feel a wave of them coming :)

Sister Jordan

Transfer.. Am I Staying or Am I Leaving?

Well it's that time again- Transfers. Don't you dare skip down to find out where I am going before you make a guess. We now have P-days every Monday, even transfer weeks, so you will know where I am going before it happens. So what is your guess? Am I staying in Liverpool for a 5th transfer or am I leaving?

So I have been feeling like it was my time to go. It is true when they say you get a feeling you will leave an area right before you get the official news. I got a call Friday night which can only mean two things: A) I am training or B) I will be whitewashing/ opening a new area. It turned out to be option B! I am leaving Liverpool and going to Manchester YSA ward. And guess who my companion is? SISTER MERRILL!!!!! Oh boy. I am so excited. We will be reopening that area for Chinese work. I screamed pretty loud when the assistants told me over the phone. Sister Loh is at the end of her mission and she will be staying one last transfer in Liverpool. Just what she wanted.

I have learned so much while being here in Liverpool and I have witnessed a lot of miracles. Even though transfers are on Wednesday it still hasn't really hit me that I will be leaving. I mean I have been here for 5 months. This is now a place I call home.

The members I have grown close to were disappointed to find out that I was leaving. A lot of them have made the comment ''well hey, maybe you'll come back to Liverpool before the end of you mission.'' I don't know how I would feel to come back to an area I have already served in. I will go where the Lord needs me though.

Sorry this is a short email. Not too much time today! I love you all and I can't wait to tell you about my adventures in Manchester. Happy new year!

Sister Jordan

Looking Forward

Hello Friends and Family!

What a blessing it was to be able to Skype home for Christmas. Christmas in England was wonderful and I am sad it is over. The Spirit of Christmas lives on though. I hope we can all can find ways to keep the Spirit of Christmas in our hearts and let it reflect in our actions as we look forward to 2014. Can you believe 2013 is coming to a close? So many wonderful things happened this year and I know wonderful things will continue next year.

In one of my last emails I talked about how we should expect miracles. Well, I am still on a miracle kick and I had a really inspiring personal study this week about miracles. First things first, our mission has a goal each year for the number of baptism we hope to reach. I don't know how close we will get this year since the totals aren't in yet. Setting goals for the number of baptisms we want is great but we, or at least I, need to be careful with having the right reasons to baptize.  I was feeling like I was letting the mission down since we did not have a baptism as we had hoped we would this month nor do we have anyone dated for baptism yet. During personal study the other day, a thought came to my head in the form of a scripture. It is the scripture that talks about Captain Moroni and his army and how they made a banner that listed the reasons why they were fighting in war. First on that list is God. Then the Spirit brought back to my remembrance something I have already learned from reading this scripture and asked me ''what is your motivation?'' In other words, I had to ask myself what it was that motivates me to be a missionary and share the gospel. Do I have the right motivation to find, teach, and baptize? Am I doing it for God and because I love Him or am I doing it because I want the honor of being a good missionary in the sight of others? Recently, it might have been the latter. After this inspiration, however, I desire to change my attitude. I want to find, teach , and baptize because I love my Heavenly Father and I want my works to glorify Him and I want others to find eternal joy. I have thought about C Minor and how I have sort of given up hope for him to be baptized while I am here in Liverpool. I read in Mormon 9 which talks about how God is a God of miracles. He always has been and He always will be. Just because C Minor isn't going to be baptized this month doesn't mean Heavenly Father's miracles and blessings for him will cease. Wanting to learn a little bit more about miracles, I looked up its definition in the Bible Dictionary. It states:
''Miracles were and are a response to faith.'' ''They were never wrought without prayer, felt need, and faith.''
I have realized that I stopped praying specifically for C Minor and I need to continue to pray earnestly and then act in order for God to work miracles in his behalf. It is great to expect miracles but we cannot forget how they come about. I know that C Minor's soul is precious in the sight of God and I want him to be baptized because it will lead him to the eternal blessing of Eternal life. Just because 2013 has a mission baptismal goal we may not accomplish does not mean I should not expect that in 2014 the work will stop. There is still time for the Lord to work mighty miracles. There is no deadline to His work. He can and will make things happen when we do our part.

On that note, I was able to see many miracles this week. The majority of them being that Sister Loh and I were lead to those that have been prepared at this moment to learn about the gospel. The miracle I would like to share with you is how I finally talked to this man I saw a few weeks ago on a bus.  I wanted to talk to him the first time I saw him, but never had the chance.  I spotted him on the bus we were on and we ended up getting off the same stop. He has an adorable 3 year old daughter and this second time I saw him, he was with his daughter again. I was nervous to talk to him but I felt that Heavenly Father had placed him in our path again for a reason. We started talking to him and he was super nice. After introducing who we were he went on to tell us about how he had this spiritual awakening about a year or two ago that changed his life. As soon as he shared that I knew that he was prepared and could feel in my heart that he is ready for baptism. I had this same impression when we met our now recent convert, Kirk. We had a wonderful conversation about the gospel and taught him on the spot while we were waiting for our next bus. Right after we closed a prayer with him, the next bus we were all waiting for came. The timing of everything could not have been more perfect. We invited him to church and he said he would come. He did not come to church but we called him last night and asked if we could meet with him and share more. He agreed and told us he told his girlfriend about what we shared with him and she is interested as well! Oh boy! I am so excited to see what will come from this :)

Ok, wait. I have one more miracle I want to share. There were many non-members at church yesterday because there were baptisms this weekend. One of them looked oddly familiar but not because I had met him at the baptism. Turns out I met him on the street while on exchange with Sister Hansen ( a sister in my district). We had been handing out pass along cards with the church address on them as we walked to an appointment. He told Sister Hansen that we had invited him to church and so he came. Woah there. Never underestimate the power of inviting people to church. One day they might just show up out of the blue!

It always seems like a flood of miracles always happen at the end of a transfer. I have been in Liverpool forever and have felt a desire to leave but now I realize how much I love this area because of the members and those we get to teach. Dilemma at its finest.

Yesterday at church, one of the teachers asked some really great questions that I want all of you to ask yourself as well as we reflect the upcoming new year:
What blessings did you receive this year?
What blessings did you miss out on?
What blessings do you look forward to having in 2014?

What ever blessings you hope to receive in 2014 can be yours if you make it your focus. If there were some blessings we missed out on, we have the opportunity to receive them if it is our desire. May 2014 be a year full of blessings and miracles.

Wo ai ni men,
Sister Jordan

                                          Boxing day (Dec 26th) with the Jones

Christmas Eve at the Romeros by their Christmas tree

Monkey Bread Yum!